


You're Not a Monster, Just a Human, and You Made a Few Mistakes (It's Alright, It's Okay, It's Alright, It's Okay...)

by Huntress8611



Series: Whumptober 2020 [17]
Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Accidents, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angsty Booker | Sebastien le Livre, Blackmail, Booker | Sebastien le Livre Did Not Betray The Team, Booker | Sebastien le Livre Whump, Day 17, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Manipulation, Fear, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Manipulation, Misunderstandings, Whumptober, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:00:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27075367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Huntress8611/pseuds/Huntress8611
Summary: “No...” he whispered, horrified as they led him and Andy into the lab. “No! You promised you wouldn’t touch them!”“I never promised you anything,” Merrick said cruelly. “I’ve never even met you.”“Copley, you bastard!” he growled, wishing that the man was here so he could kill him. “You promised.”
Relationships: Andy | Andromache & Booker | Sebastien le Livre & Joe | Yusuf al-Kaysani & Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Series: Whumptober 2020 [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1946887
Comments: 4
Kudos: 88
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	You're Not a Monster, Just a Human, and You Made a Few Mistakes (It's Alright, It's Okay, It's Alright, It's Okay...)

**Author's Note:**

> The title of this work is from the song It's Alright by Mother Mother.
> 
> This work fills the prompt for Whumptober Day 17: Blackmail.

“No...” he whispered, horrified as they led him and Andy into the lab. “No! You promised you wouldn’t touch them!”

“I never promised you anything,” Merrick said cruelly. “I’ve never even met you.”

“Copley, you bastard!” he growled, wishing that the man was here so he could kill him. “You promised.”

He thought back to the conversation he’d had with Copley a few weeks ago.

_ “You’re insane,” Sebastien said, trying to conceal his worry. “Immortal? Me? Ha! I wish.” _

_ “I have proof,” Copley said earnestly. “Look!” _

_ His heart dropped at the sight of the newspapers and images that the man placed in front of him. He could see dates from now, all the way back to the 1800s, with a few photographs of ancient art pieces. There were images of them in each one. An old, old painting of Yusuf and Nicolo fighting, a statue of Andromache, news articles and photos of all of them, some from the World Wars, others from natural disaster rescues, and so many more. _

_ “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He had to deflect, he couldn’t let this man find out, let his family get hurt. _

_ “But you do. You, you were a part of the Napoleonic Wars. These two, there’s images of them dating back to the First Crusade. And her. The legendary, Andromache the Scythian. I haven’t been able to find out her age. Every time I think I have, I find something older. It’s incredible.” _

_ “Give me one reason I shouldn’t kill you right now.” _

_ “Because somebody else knows, and he won’t hesitate to take you all. He told me that if you didn’t agree, they’d never see the light of day again, ever.” _

_ Sebastien froze. _

_ “What have you done?” _

_ “I’ve done nothing. The man I work for hasn’t done anything, at least not yet.” _

_ He caught the threatening undertone in the man’s voice. _

_ “What do you want?” Sebastien asked, recognizing that he’d been backed into a corner. _

_ “Let’s talk.” _

_ Copley laid out his plan, told him that there’d be a mission, a setup. Nobody would be taken, he just needed proof. Then he said that he’d meet him somewhere, to call him when it was done, and then he’d be taken, but the others wouldn’t be harmed. _

_ “You swear on your life, you won’t touch them?” he demanded. _

_ “If you do this one mission, as proof, and come find me after. You give yourself up for research, and they will not be harmed.” Copley promised, and Sebastien took a deep breath, _

_ “Deal.” _

“What have you done?” Yusuf asked angrily. “How dare you!”

Sebastien was jolted from his thoughts. Andy must have told them what she knew, and now they thought he’d betrayed them.

“Let- let me explain!”

“Why? Why should we listen to you? This is your fault.”

“Because this wasn’t supposed to happen,” he said quietly, squeezing his eyes shut. “You- you weren’t- this wasn’t the plan.”

“You better start talking  _ now. _ ”

“He- Copley. He came to me a few weeks ago. He had proof, proof about us.  _ All  _ of us. I asked him why I shouldn’t kill him. I had to- had to be sure that he didn’t have a backup plan of some kind, that none of you were in danger.”

He opened his eyes to chance a quick look at the other three, and they were watching him intently. Andy was dazed, having been given drugs after someone had shot her from behind. He was still angry that he hadn’t been able to prevent that. Nicolo had an indifferent expression on his face, while Yusuf still looked pissed.

“He told me that there was another, someone else who knew. He said something, implied that this other person, who I’m now assuming was Merrick, would do something to you. That if I didn’t do as he said, that Merrick would take you, and none of you would ever see the light of day again,” he looked up, trying to keep the tears from rolling down his face. This was not the time for that. “He offered me a deal. Do the one mission, as proof, then give myself up. He swore that you wouldn’t be touched. None of you would have been hurt.”

“Oh, Booker…” he turned his head again, meeting Andy’s eyes.

“I’m sorry, I should have told you, but I didn’t know what to do, if they were watching. I was so, so scared that they’d know if I told you. I just didn’t want them to hurt you.”

Andy and Nicolo both opened their mouths to say something when they were cut off by gunshots, and a few moments later, the door opened and Nile came tumbling in.

After that, everything passed in a blur. Sebastien remembered Nile letting them out, everybody doing their best to keep Andy safe. He remembered dragging her out of a gas-filled room, and taking a few bullets for her. He remembered executing a plan, going after Merrick with Yusuf and Nicolo, and then seeing Nile and Merrick both fall out the penthouse window.

They got in the car, and Andy drove them to a safehouse. On the way there, he sat in the back seat, looking out the window. He didn’t want to see Nicolo or Nile. He couldn’t bear to look at them, not when this was all his fault. It may not have been how it was supposed to go, but it was still his fault, and he knew it.

He didn’t even notice the car stopping, didn’t realize they’d arrived until someone opened the door he was leaning against and pulled him out of the car and guided him into the house. He heard Andy send Nile to go take a shower and saw Nile leave, recognizing that this was something the four of them needed to work out on their own.

“Booker, look at me,” Andy said, and when he looked up, he was surprised to see sadness on her face instead of anger. “You should have told us.”

“I know, I know, I’m so,  _ so _ sorry,” he said. “I wasn’t  _ thinking, _ I thought they- I thought you’d get hurt, or that they’d take you, I didn’t want to risk it-”

He felt someone’s arms wrap around him, and he froze.

“Sebastien, breathe,” he heard Nicolo say softly into his ear.

“I- This is all my fault, I’m so sorry.”

He let Nicolo move him to the couch, and the older man moved a hand up to his head, gently running his fingers through his hair.

“You need to breathe. We can’t have a conversation until you breathe. It’s okay.”

When he managed to get his breathing under control, pressed his face into Nicolo’s shoulder. They hadn’t sent him away yet, but it was sure to happen and he wanted to soak up every second of this that he could get, even though he knew he didn’t deserve it.

“You’re an idiot,” Yusuf said, without much anger in his voice, “but this isn’t  _ all _ your fault. You aren’t blameless, but this isn’t all your fault, Booker.”

Sebastien’s head jerked up in surprise.

“He’s right,” Andy said, moving closer and resting a hand on his shoulder, sitting down next to him and Nicolo on the couch. “This is Merrick’s fault, and Copley’s. Not yours.”

“We aren’t angry at you,” Yusuf said. “We are, however, going to have a little family trip later, and we’re going to  _ talk _ to Copley.”

The way that he said ‘talk’ implied that there would probably be a bit more than talking going on. Knowing his family, Sebastien expected that there might be a little bit of murder, and definitely some violence.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m still so sorry.”

“You are forgiven.”


End file.
